The Paraglide
by AlikeReaction
Summary: A charity event doesn't quite go as the gang expected.
1. Chapter 1

**The Paraglide**

"So boys," said Amanda sailing into the doctors' lounge where Mark, Steve and Jesse were sitting eating lunch. "Who's going to sign up?"

"Sign up to what?" asked Jesse with a mouth full of pasta.

"This!" said Amanda producing a flyer from behind her back and laying it on the table.

"Paragliding?" stated Jesse in bemusement. "Why would anyone willingly want to jump off a cliff?"

"You've never been paragliding?" said Steve incredulously. "You don't know what you're missing. It's fantastic. Great views, a cool breeze, it feels like you're flying."

"Great, I'll put you down," said Amanda, adding Steve's name to a very short list at the bottom of the flyer.

"Put me down for what exactly?"

"For the paragliding. It's a charity event that's happening this weekend. It's being organized by the hospital to raise money for our new burns unit. You get sponsors and then people turn out to watch you jump."

"Yes, to your death," said Jesse.

"It's really not all that dangerous," said Mark. "Far more people die in road accidents."

"True, but fewer people choose to jump off cliffs so I'm guessing the ratios are a little different," said Jesse.

"Does that mean I can put you down too?" Amanda asked Mark.

"Oh no. Not with my old back, but I'll sponsor these two."

"These two? Have you not been listening to me? I think it's a crazy idea."

"I don't remember agreeing to this either," said Steve. "But…" he added at a look from Amanda. "I will do it if Jesse does."

"Wonderful," said Amanda, beaming and writing down Jesse's name.

"But I'm scared of heights," protested Jesse. "And what about you? I notice your name isn't down."

"Well I have my two children to think of. Whereas, you two have no dependants and if you get mutilated in some horrible accident it's not going to matter so much. I'm kidding Jesse," said Amanda at the horrified look on Jesse's face.

"Go on Jesse, be a sport," said Steve. "I'll buy you a beer afterwards." Jesse took a look round at his friends and sighed.

"I'm not going to win this argument am I?"

"Nope," said Amanda happily.

"Oh ok then," said Jesse. "But you all owe me one."

"You'll love it," said Amanda, standing up. "Mark, I believe you know what's involved with this event don't you?" Mark nodded, grinning. "Right, then I'll leave you to explain the finer points then, bye."

"What finer points are those then?" asked Steve turning to look at his dad as Amanda hurried out the room.

"Well," said Mark allowing the huge grin he had been suppressing to spread onto his face. "As it's for charity, you do the jump in fancy dress."

"WHAT?" proclaimed Steve and Jesse together.

"Yes. You get to choose between Superman, Batman, Robin, Spiderman or The Hulk. Apparently it draws quite a crowd." Both Jesse and Steve sat looking at each other horrified.

"Where's Amanda?" said Jesse pushing his chair back and rushing out the door, closely followed by Steve. Mark laughed as they tore down the corridor and helped himself to Steve's apple pie.

XXX

The day of the event was warm with clear skies and a light breeze drawing a large and interested crowd of spectators in a field about half a mile away from Marianne's Edge where the jump was taking place. The participants, five men and two women dressed as Wonder Woman and Cat Woman, had all been given training and a safety talk to prepare them for the jump. Jesse had been petrified on his first practice jump but declared on landing that it was amazing and was now looking forward to the real thing. Amanda and Mark entered the marquee where Steve and Jesse were waiting to be called. Amanda entered the tent and upon seeing Jesse and Steve in their capes and costumes she let out a laugh which she unsuccessfully tried to turn into a cough.

"You see. I told you I look ridiculous," protested Jesse to Steve who had been trying to reassure him all afternoon.

"You look great, both of you," said Mark.

"Steve does," whined Jesse. "He got to be Batman. I wanted to be The Hulk, at least that's sort of macho, but they insisted I had to be Robin!" and he plucked at his red and lime green Lycra suit.

"Well you're perfect for it," said Steve. "With the mask no one will know it's you and besides, now we're a team."

"Hmpf," said Jesse, completely unimpressed.

"What order are you going in?" asked Amanda.

"I'm fifth and Steve's seventh."

"Well we'll go and get good viewing from the field," said Mark. "See you both at the bottom, good luck and enjoy!"

Hmpf," said Jesse again.

X X X

When it was Jesse's turn he made his way to the edge and looked out over the land. There was a small stream directly below him and woodland to his right. Then in the distance he could make out a big red cross on a white background that had been laid out as a landing site in a field. To its left he could make out a sea of spectators and could just see Spiderman, one of the interns called Jason Green, coming into land. There was a large safety crew who double checked his harness and led him near to the edge.

"You ready?" asked one of them with a pair of binoculars round his neck. Jesse nodded, feeling butterflies in his stomach. "Then go after three. One…two…three!" Jesse ran forward down a short slope with the glides attached to his back and immediately felt the wind pick him up. His feet left the ground and he was soaring out into open space. He took a few deep breaths and let himself relax, knowing the initial hard stage was over. He could now just enjoy the experience until it came to landing. Steve, peeking through the tent flaps watched him go. "He's taken to it like a duck to water," he thought and grinned. It would have been awful if Jesse had hated it.

An assistant came to collect Cat Woman, meaning Jesse must have landed safely. "Wind's picking up a bit, will you two be ok?"

"I'll be fine, I've jumped before," she said and Steve nodded his agreement. He wasn't going to drop out now. He would never hear the end of it from Jesse. She left, leaving Steve alone in the tent.

X X X

Jesse saw the red cross racing up to meet him and picked his legs up in front of him as he had been instructed and let the wind deposit him on the ground. He slid a little way before coming to a stop amid loud cheering. Helpers rushed in to remove his gliders and help him to his feet. Jesse stood, feeling euphoric and waved at the crowd, finding Mark and Amanda right at the front cheering away. Amanda had her camera in her hand and started taking photos as he approached.

"Well, how was it?" inquired Mark.

"Amazing," said Jesse grinning from ear to ear. "It's such a rush, but then so relaxing at the same time. It feels like you're flying."

"Yay!" said Amanda and gave him a hug. "Now we just need to wait for Steve."

X X X

At that current moment in time Steve was waiting on top of the cliff with the gliders strapped to his back. Even though Cat Woman had landed safely they were delaying his jump due to strong sideways winds. People were crowded around him, hanging onto the gliders to stop Steve being buffeted off his feet while he waited. They had wanted to cancel his jump but Steve had insisted they go ahead. They had agreed to wait a while and see if the wind died down. So far he had been waiting nearly 10 minutes and he found himself becoming increasingly anxious and tense. The wind suddenly dropped and everyone stopped talking and looked between Steve and the head director of the event.

"I'm making this jump," said Steve firmly as the director looked unsure. "It's for charity, I've been sponsored, people have turned up to watch me do this, I can't let them down. If I don't jump we don't get the money."

"I'm sure people would understand considering it's down to the weather and not that you pulled out."

"I've jumped many times before," protested Steve. "The wind's practically gone, we have to take this chance, I'm off." And he took a step towards the edge.

_To be continued... Reviews appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Paraglide **

**Part 2**

_Thanks so much for the reviews!_

"Steve…"

"What?"

"Just be careful, ok?" Steve nodded and the people around him scattered giving him more room to move. There was a little voice in his head that was trying to tell him that this really wasn't a very bright idea, but he pushed it away and focused on the distant crowd. He took a deep breath and sprinted down the slope and was airborne in a matter of moments.

Almost straight away Steve could tell the difference in the conditions from when he last paraglided. The wind kept trying to pull him to the right and he was having to work hard to keep himself on course. The wind began to increase and his gliders started to flap and shudder causing him to dip up and down in the turbulence. Steve found he was breathing deeply and his pulse was racing. He had done many jumps before, but never in these types of conditions. He started to shiver in his thin Lycra costume. On the ground Mark, Jesse and Amanda were watching with growing concern.

"He looks like he's having some difficulty," said Mark. "And the winds picked up again."

"I'm sure they wouldn't have let him jump if it wasn't safe," said Amanda trying to convince herself.

"You know how stubborn Steve can get," replied Mark. "I just hope he's ok."

X X X

Back in the air the wind suddenly died down again, much to Steve's relief. He allowed his muscles to relax and started to breathe more easily. All of a sudden the wind increased and buffeted him from all sides, catching him unawares. A strong sideways gust whipped his black Batman's cloak up into his face, blinding him. Steve jumped and lifted a hand to try and remove it from his head, as the wind speed increased he could sense rather than see that he was being blown off course. He couldn't seem to catch a successful hold of the silky cloak and the wind was keeping it pinned to his face. He took his other hand off the bar in desperation as another strong gust caught his wing tips. To his horror he felt himself begin to spiral out of control.

Back on the ground the three could only watch in horror with the rest of the crowd, all of whom had got very silent, watching helplessly.

"He's in trouble," said Mark, rather stating the obvious. Amanda, who was clutching his arm, didn't reply. They all watched in horror as Steve's paraglider suddenly went into a downwards spiral and careered toward the forest.

"He'll be killed," said Amanda, before she could stop herself. The crowd suddenly let out a simultaneous cry of alarm as Steve and the paraglider plummeted into the trees. There was the sound of cracking branches and then silence. People stood still and silent in shock.

"We've got to find him!" said Mark and set off at a run across the field. Jesse and Amanda exchanged a worried glance before setting off in pursuit of Mark. The crowd broke into a babble of talk before they too raced off towards the trees to help look for Steve.

X X X

Steve came to, feeling confused that he had gone to sleep standing up. Then his headache kicked in and he realised where he was and took stock of his surroundings. He was halfway up a very tall pine tree hanging from his harness which had got wedged in-between two very large branches. He tried to lift his hands to his face but his left arm protested in a shot of agony, causing him to cry out. He gingerly turned his head to look at his arm. There was a nasty gash down his forearm with bits of twig and pine needles stuck to the congealing blood around it. He pulled a face and flexed his fingers gingerly. He knew from experience that it almost certainly wasn't broken, but it was possibly dislocated. He must have caught it on something on the way down. The knuckles on his right hand were bruised and grazed but amazingly his arm felt fine. He lifted it to his face and gingerly felt around.

He flinched as he encountered the grazed nose and left cheekbone as well as a large tender bump on his left forehead, probably the reason he had blacked out. He didn't remember hitting the trees; his last memory was of his cloak being stuck to his face and a feeling of panic. He couldn't see his legs properly but he was able to flex his toes without too much discomfort. He wondered how long he had been stuck there. It was very cold, dark and damp in the forest, but he reasoned it was often like that in the middle of a forest. He shivered and once again cursed his silly thin costume. He caught sight of his black silky cloak over his right hand shoulder. It was mostly ripped to shreds, clinging on by a few small strands. He reached up with his good arm and wrenched it off his costume in anger. Stupid thing.

Steve watched it float to the ground; it seemed a long way off, too far to fall. Anyway he wasn't too sure what damage he had done to his legs even if he could release himself. He listened for any sound of noise or movement but could see and hear nothing. He tried yelling and calling and then waiting for a reply but got no reply. He hung in silence for a while but his arm was really beginning to sting and so he whistled his favourite tune to try and take his mind off things.

X X X

Back on the ground Mark, Amanda, Jesse and the rest of the spectators had been scouring the trees for a sign of Steve for the past half hour. The police, ambulance crew and fire service had been called to help out but so far they had had no luck and Mark was becoming increasingly worried. They had split up into groups and were all searching different parts of the forest to try and cover as much ground as possible.

"We'll find him Mark," reassured Amanda.

"I know," said Mark. "Its just not knowing where he is, how badly injured he is."

"I know, but we'll…."

"….shhhh!" said Mark suddenly. "Do you hear that?"

"What?" asked Jesse.

"Quiet, everyone QUIET," yelled Mark and the rest of their teams stopped still and fell silent, listening intently. A faint whistling sound came to their ears. "That whistling. It's Steve, I know it is!" said Mark excitedly his heart lifting at the familiar sound. "It's the one he always does when he's nervous or worried about something, he's done it since he was a boy, said it helped him relax before his exams." And he sprinted off in the direction of the sound calling Steve's name. The others followed.

Up in the tree Steve suddenly thought he heard someone calling his name. He stopped whistling and fell silent, but could only hear the wind moving through the trees. Back on the ground Mark stopped abruptly when the whistling did, unsure of where to go. Steve waited for a few seconds more and then started up again, unaware that Mark was heaving a sigh of relief and racing towards his tree.

"STEVE!" yelled Mark when the whistling had become a lot louder. Up in the tree Steve heard him.

"DAD?"

"STEVE!" yelled Mark joyfully. "We're coming."

"Where are you?" called Jesse.

"Stuck in a tree."

"Which one?" asked Jesse stupidly.

"Gee I don't know Jess; it's tall, green and has lots of pine needles attached to it!"

Amanda grinned realizing that Steve couldn't be badly hurt if he was back to his sarcastic comments.

"Keep whistling," said Mark. "We'll find you." They followed the sound and within the minute had located Steve's tree. "Are you alright?" asked Mark beaming up at Steve relief flooding through him.

"Been better, but I'm ok."

"Hey Steve," said Jesse, peering up at Steve.

"Hey Robin," replied Steve. "Want to fly up here and rescue me?"

"I though bats liked being in trees," said Jesse grinning.

"I've contacted the teams, the fire service and ambulance will be here in a few minutes to get you down," said Amanda.

"Oh great, that's all I need," said Steve. "The guys from my office seeing me dressed like this and stuck in a tree. I'll never live this down."

X X X

A week later Steve entered the beach house to find Mark making lasagna and Amanda preparing a salad while slapping Jesse's hand away.

"What's all this?" asked Steve, indicating the spread laid out on the table.

"To celebrate the end of your first day back at work," said Mark. "How was it?"

"Bearable. The guys had attached two big black plastic wings to the back of my chair, changed my name plate to Batcop and altered my phone so that every time I got a call it played the Batman and Robin theme tune. It's been driving me nuts all day."

Mark chuckled. "Grab a beer and relax. How's the arm?" Steve had pulled the ligaments in his left arm, meaning he hadn't been able to hold a gun or even a pencil for a few days and his Captain had given him the week off to recover. The cut had been cleaned and stitched and was now in a bandage. His face still bore the bruises and scratches from where he had hit it and he had suffered a twisted ankle but was otherwise remarkably unhurt.

"Not too bad. I'm on desk duty for the rest of the month though," he said miserably. "Smells good dad, do I have time to take a shower first?"

"Yes, this will be about 20 minutes."

"Ohh and I have a cake for dessert," said Jesse.

"You didn't make it did you?" asked Steve remembering Jesses last baking experience which had resulted in a carrot cake that contained broccoli as he had 'run out of carrots.'

"No, no. I've had this one made specially," said Jesse retrieving a box from under the counter with a huge grin on his face. He brought it over to Steve and laid it in front of him. "Its chocolate and cherry too."

"Awww Jesse, you known that's my favourite," said Steve touched by Jesse's thoughtfulness. He drew the box towards him and opened it.

"Do you like it?" asked Jesse giggling at the look on Steve's face.

"Come here you!" said Steve pushing back his chair and racing after Jesse who bolted out the patio doors onto the beach, laughing. Mark and Amanda exchanged bemused looks and went over to look at the cake.

"Trust Jesse," said Mark chuckling as he looked at the large chocolate cake which was decorated with a picture of Batman made out of icing and had '_Steve, wishing you a super speedy recovery' _piped round the edge.

"It does look delicious though doesn't it," said Amanda and Mark nodded in agreement. "Do you think it would be a good idea to save the photos I took for another day?"

"Yes I think that would be best," said Mark as he surveyed Steve ruthlessly sitting on Jesse's back in the sand. "Or at least until after dinner."

_This was only ever intended to be a short story - hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please review!_


End file.
